I keep seeing they don't know the source of the e coli in Europe. Now they think they got it nailed down to bean spouts. But AFAIK E Coli doesn't come from vegies, it comes from animals. Are govts too afraid to say that raising meat is the source of the toxic pollution that's getting into the vegetables? Seems like the meat industry is being protected without regard to the health hazards.

It's the packing & handling that usually infects the food. The last big beef e-coli outbreak here in the states was traced back to unsanitary conditions at a meat packing plant. When it happened with produce last time I think it was traced to the processor after the stuff was already out of the ground.

If you recall there were some E Coli incidents in CA a few yrs ago. They traced it to a ( correct me if I'm wrong) running water that had runoff from a cattle/dairy farm.
Also having lived in a farming community - there's not exactly a bathroom nearby it you gotta pee yet along something to wash your hands off..... Just saying

I was wondering if the massive amount of antibiotics they feed cattle had anything to do with the resistance.

My wife has gotten me into eating more vegetables and less meat, so this year I decided to start growing our own vegetables. There's still a lot to learn. Like I planted a bunch of Arugula lettuce and found that it grew too fast to eat it all, and I should have staggered the planting times. It's only a month and a half now but the tomatos are kicking but. Here it is after 3 weeks. I got a big load of compost off Craigslist and haven't needed any fertilizer.

Thanks for those articles Ron. I need to be careful about my source of compost. Since I didn't get sick I guess the compost I got is fine. Fortunately I have so much I'll probably not need more for quite a while. I've still got about 3 yards sitting in a pile. I think I should start composting my lawn clipping as well. I have a compost tumbler but at the rate it produces you can't get much. That was pretty much to appease my wife who insisted on buying it. Also the water I used is from the city reclaimed water system. Might need to think about that as well.

Randy, I haven't seen the "World According to Monsanto". I'll look it up. Did see "Food Inc" and that was very enlightening. I'll have to check if almonds grow well in Florida. The batch of plants here were purchased already sprouted at Lowes. But my wife ordered a bunch of heritage seeds and come August we're going to plant them exclusively. We got a late start so this is our trail run and initiation into gardening.

This one of my favorite sites: http://www.gardeners.com/Gardening-H...efault,pg.html
You should have started your tomatoes back in March - I've already given away at least 5 lb of yellow pear tomatoes and tons of basil. If you haven't stakes your tomatoes definitely do that now, so that you won't damage the roots later.
You should hit up the Winter Park Farmers Market for some different variety of herbs. I'd recommend Salad Burnet - tastes like cucumber.
Also what I have done differently this year was to plant Marigolds along side with all my veggie plants . Surprisingly I haven't seen much destruction from worms at all. But it could be still early.http://www.gardenguides.com/89969-ma...secticide.html
Tried the Praying Mantis route too....... they just became expensive appetizers to the lizards and ants. 6 pods x 300-400 mantises = fat happy lizards.

Thanks Phantom. I knew I was starting late, but wanted to get the ball rolling. I do need to get the Tomatos staked right away because they are growing like gangbusters and have little green tomatos on them now. Got two big Basil plants now. You can see them on right of center in front. Everything is much bigger now. Got several Bell peppers, a few squash, some Ocra starting, and pimentos.

The Arugula is almost all done for but I'm letting it continue growing to harvest the seed pods. I want to get some collards growing and watermelon. I haven't even got the least bed in the back ready, and the one next to it is only 1/4 planted. I'll check out those Salad Burnets. That Marigold suggest is something I'll look into as well as I don't want pesticides. So far nothing is "bug'n" my garden. My neighbor told me to rotate the tomato crops between the beds to reduce bugs. My yard has tons of lizards. My cat is playing with a new one in the house every day.

Meat is far more nutrient rich than any vegetable. The problem is getting good, naturally raised meat at a good price.

If you liked Food Inc, you should watch the world according to monsanto. I bought a copy of both and passed them around the family. Monsanto just takes you many levels deeper and focuses more on chemicals and agriculture.

If you want to skip to the good stuff, find a copy of Paul Chek's "How to Eat, Move, and be Healthy." He goes deep into the topic of soil, including the importance of worms and micro organisms that are killed with pesticides and fertilizers. He covers health from a more holistic approach than just eating though. What he says makes a lot of sense.

I'm not a Vegetarian even though my wife mostly is one (some fish). But most of my meat eating is lunch at work or if we eat in a restaurant. I'll look into the book as well. My wife wouldn't let me put pesticides on the garden even if the bugs were munching on it. The compost I currently have doesn't need any fertilizer, but I don't know how long that will last. So if that book explains how to keep the dirt nutrient rich, that's a plus.